Bike, Run, Yoga, Bike

You guys know that I’m normally an early morning exerciser/runner, but these fun run groups have really got me seeing the benefits of an evening workout! I do sometimes miss the feeling of being out in the cool morning air and knowing I’m done with my workout before most people are awake, but meeting up for a workout at night is such a nice way to unwind and socialize after a day at work. It’s a good thing I’m liking it because with my hospital internship hours being 7 to 3 or 3:30, there’s no way I’m going to be working out before work anytime soon.

I arrived at the Lululemon store last night at 6:30pm as usual… but this time, via bike!

I’ve always been impressed by people who get around by bike, so last night I decided to give it a shot. It was a total win — way faster, easier, more fun, AND more environmentally friendly than driving, plus I didn’t have to fight traffic and deal with parking. I’ve also tried metro-ing but Georgetown isn’t really near a metro so that ends up taking awhile with all the walking. I think I’ll be sticking with biking from now on! Yay!

We had an awesome run last night — hilly AND speedy! We started down by the waterfront…

Ran over the Memorial Bridge…

Up the hill to Iwo Jima and through Rosslyn…

Back over the Key Bridge to Georgetown, and back to the store! 4.3 miles — done.

There are usually two different pace groups at this run club, by the way, in case you read these split times and are scared off from joining us! Some nights we are all really close together, and other nights the groups split up a bit more. Tonight was the latter — those of us in the front group were flying! We had some speedy guys with us and we all kept all getting faster and faster near the end of the run. It felt good to push it and it was a great challenge to keep up the speedy pace while also still chatting and going up some hills!

Splits:

Mile 1: 8:44

Mile 2: 8:17

Mile 3: 8:27

Mile 4: 7:59 (!)

Last 0.3 miles pace: 7:48 (!)

Average overall pace: 8:17 min/miles. Sweet! This is why I love group runs — had I been by myself, I totally would have stopped and walked on the hills. Not because I really needed to, but because there’s no motivation to keep up with other people when you’re alone!

After our run, we headed back into the store for a post-run yoga session in their beautiful upstairs studio.

Shauna (who is in yoga teacher training right now and also helped teach the class I went to on Saturday) led us in a glorious 20 minute “yoga for runners” stretch out session. Almost everyone stayed for the (free) class, which was great!

Ahhh… pigeon pose. Feels good on those tight hips!

Thanks for stretching us out, Shauna! Hoping you’ll come back often because I needed that.

My legs are pooped this morning — especially after biking home after the run and yoga! What a fun night. Alas, time to get back to work. Wednesday, here we go!

Do any of you guys travel around via bike? It was fun — I’m excited to do it more often!

I live in Germany right now in a downtown area. My bike is a lifesaver! It’s so much easier to get around and to “cheat” on some streets by going down them opposite their one way signs say. I’m still not fond of riding in the rain or cold (which we have a lot of here) but maybe I’ll get more used to it over time.

I wish I could take part in a Lululemon run club or class. I’m moving to Houston in August for grad school so hopefully I will finally be able to then! I’m still so jealous you get to run in DC – so pretty! Wish I had been a runner when I was there!

That looks so much fun. I am just getting into cycling and loving it. i live in a very small village in England so cycling to places is not really an option but love the open countryside especially when there are no cars around. The only downside is that there are no cycle/running groups around.

1 – bike commuting rocks. welcome the the world of awesome. can be a bit intimidating in DC, but just know you deserve to be on that road as much as any rude cabby or other jerkface driver. i’m a jerkface driver sometimes too, so i can say that;)
2 – yay for riding bikes everywhere!
3 – i do recommend hopping on craigslist or something and getting a junkier bike for locking up around town. bike thieves in this city are no joke and don’t really care how busy it is or what time it is.
4 – two-wheelers FOR THE WIN!

Ahh that looks like a ton of fun! I’m a little intimidated by the running group, just because I haven’t run moderate distance in awhile now. But free yoga sounds perfect. Do they have more classes than are listed on their website? I’ve also been seriously thinking about getting a bike to make DC more manageable this summer.

I live in the Midwest and commute by bike all year. I love biking and I love when I get home faster during rush hour than I would driving! I recommend investing in good rain gear and gloves for colder days. Also a front and back light are a must for safe biking at night!

Bike commuting is the best! I use Capital Bikeshare here in DC both for commuting to work and other short trips. It seriously puts my in a good mood every single day. You should read this recent oped by David Byrne in the NYT about the joys of biking in the city: http://nyti.ms/MRhcTr

I’ve been wanting to go to the Tuesday night Lulu runs but am more of a 9/9:30 minute/mile runner. I will come one of these weeks!

I did an internship in California for about 4 months and did not take my car out there so I only had a bike (and my feet) as transportation. I absolutely loved it! I never had to worry about spending tons of money on gas, finding parking, or dealing with traffic and it was great exercise. Sometimes I wish I still lived an area where I could just commute by bike.

Thanks for posting the little sidenote about two pace groups at the Tuesday night runs – I always wonder what the protocol is there and whether “all paces welcome” is just a big ruse 😉

And kudos to you for embracing the DC biking scene – I think the last time I tried to be efficient and green by using Bike Share I almost got hit by a car and upon switching to sidewalks kept smashing into picturesque light fixtures. Ended up walking my bike from one Bike Share station to the next like a champ.

Haha yeah I realized I might be scaring people off! Lol and yeah I don’t think I’ll be biking in the inner city anytime soon – luckily I can do most of the trip to Georgetown via a trail, although the Key Bridge is a bit intense with all the people on the sidewalk!

I wish I could commute to work on my bike. I would love that!
I am an AM exerciser too, but do so much better in the evening when I have fun people to run with. And would be thrilled to do yoga in that gorgeous studio!

Commuter biking is the best – especially in big cities. I live in Chicago and have biked to work the last 2 summers and it’s been a highlight for me. Sadly I moved 3 times further from work this past spring, so I haven’t been biking as much.

I’m curious, where you concerned about your road bike being stolen? I’ve always ridden hand me down mountain bikes and I am thinking about buying a nice, new road bike this summer, but I’m concerned about it being safely locked up while I’m working/at the gym. (disclaimer: I may be a bit paranoid because I’ve had 2 bikes stolen in as many summers)

I hadn’t really thought about it before since I locked it up, but someone else commented that people steal bikes a lot in DC… I don’t know. When you had your bikes stolen before did people cut the lock right off? Someone suggested getting a cheap bike on Craigslist to commute around the city on, but I really only will be using mine on the weekends for fun rides and on Tuesdays for this run club, so hopefully it will be okay…

In NW DC, out of my ‘secure’ garage, one bike – two locks cut off. A few months ago, around lunchtime on a Friday right on Dupont Circle, one lock, cut off with TONS of people around. That’s what killed me is that NO DOUBT, people just watched it happen. the locks (u-locks + cable) in both cases, were at the scene, cut, on the ground. GAHHH, so infuriating. the second time, it was a crappy craisglist bike, so my heart wasn’t broken. it’s so annoying and violating.

This is a ‘funny’ video of how ridiculous bike thieves (and bystanders) are: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/13/opinion/bike-thief.html worth the watch. it’s a couple of guys who lock their bikes up in various ways in very public areas then video themselves stealing them in front of people. it’s in NYC, but is shocking nonetheless.

Damn girl, you have had some horrible luck!! And that video is ridiculous – I can’t believe it took 9 minutes before anyone even did anything about the power tool. I also can’t believe how easy it looked to break all the locks. Now I’m scared to take my bike out again…